FARM & DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 27 March 1920, Page 11

FARM & DAIRY

c LIME FOE TOP-DRESSING. (By Our Maketawa Correspondent]- j.' Many farmers who have during the d .st two or three years been using lime s top-dressing, which is allowed to i tak in the ground before following with j iperphosphate, have been so satisfied ], ith the results that the use of the two g gredients, especially as basic slag is ; Imost unprocurable, is likely to in- 'J •ease yearly. I have just received j le price list for the 1020 season, which I lows a considerable increase In price, c ) much so that I'm afraid the inten- ; on of farmers to freely use lime must ( b reconsidered. It seems ridiculous E lat the Government, which preaches ay in and day out the need for in"eased production, does not take steps d provide cheap lime to help that inrease, especially as the deposits are out ? the natural resources of the country. ■ v]iy should private individuals b» ftl- 1 >wed to exploit such resources A company of farmers formed a while , aclc to work deposits at Kawhia asked hat their product should be given free ailage from the wharf, which in a meaure should be considered the works, >ut the request was Tefused. I undertand the company would ship the stuff n their own boats, and farmers could ibtain it at a price which would enable en times th i quantity now used to be >ut on the land, that is, had the Gov■rnraent acceded to the request. At iresent much is said about lime being 'ftrried 100 miles free, but the actuality neans that farmers in Taranaki pay for ,he lime used by farmers in the 100-miln imit. The long - distance farmer pays lis lid per ton—ss 9d for the the 100-mile limit and 5s 9d for himself! THE MEAT QUESTION. The side light shown in respect to the meat question, as evidenced by the Wanganui Herald's correspondent, and quoted in your columns recently, provides some food for thought on the part of the farmer, and the more he looks at the matter the more lie must recognise that the "vested interests." as represented by huge British investments in the Argentine are going to be considered before those of the farmers of this Dominion. After all the talk this country heard from the big guns of the British Government for stepping in to help save the Empire; after all the sacrifice of men and money to save the "vested interests"' investments in Belgium, Russia. France, etc , this country may go to the devil until their Argentine interests are consolidated! OUR OWN SHIPPING. "Let us have our own shippin.fr" declared Mayor Wliyte at a meeting of the Hamilton branch of the Farmers" Union rccentlv. The Moior on to show the huge amount the shipping interests had earned bv the produce of the farmers and, naturally, this meant huge dividends to the shareholders of shipping comoanies. Producers in New Zealand are inclined to form a shipping service of their own. and they would be unwise to take such a 9tep for the "vested interests" represented by the huge shipping combination can pull strings which would eventually send the concern into bankruptcy: but a State-own-ed line of ships in which the employers had an interest equal to that of the producer would be able to successfully combat any attempts of the "vested interests" to run off the sea that which is worked and owned by the people them selves, and true co-operation will sc( this brought about. Naturally, to gel the principle farmers mnsl seriously reconstruct their ideas regard ing what co-operation mea.ns. We paj £30,000 a year as a subsidy for tw< steamers to run to Vancouver witl mails— £30,000 to "vested interests" fo: nothing so far as the dairy farmer i: concerned. What was the cost, of thi boats, and how long will it take thi people of this country to pay for then at £30,000 a year and still not ow< them? NOXIOUS WEEDS. Notwithstanding the strong appea made by farmers to the Government fo immediate legislation in regard to noxi ous weeds it seems that the matter i still in abeyance, and farmers who dp sire to keep their lands clean and prope • have to go on worrying. The presen - generation are having a struggle to kec . the country clean, and the future gen i erations will have it tenfold unless mos • drastic laws are applied, and quickly 1 What is wanted in this country is th adoption and strict operation of th Compulsory Asquisition of Land Act i - force in Great Britain. !( NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITIES. :. On the uplands to the south-west < 9 the railway line and adjacent to th 1 Forest Reserve there is a eonsiderabl area of country, part of which is sti bush, and the rest in a neglected fta.l with scrub and weeds, neat hods for tl latter, and which tend to supply clea farms with all kinds of nuisances. Th land is at present looked upon as us< less; that nothing could be made out i it; that it will not pay to improve b> ■ cause of there being no good roads 1 such and to obtain same too high rate has to be paid, etc. One big ai ® valid reason has been given which I b lieve is the crux of the matter, i.e., tin ie the settlers living on the portions ne; l " the main road, within, say, three milt m will not assist in a roading loan so th; proper access is given for produce o r- or materials necessary in, and that t distance the produce has to be taken i- detrimental to the proper working is the land as to improvements. It go without question that, frhen a man h :c- to cart milk six miles or over each di to a factory, little time can be devot to much improvements. The selfishno of those who, having metal to tin doors (which the man on the mud h to contribute to), will block those w have no metal is a factor which bloc expansion of production and settlemc - and should be looked into. The roaul laws made, perhaps, 40 odd years a; and amended haphazardly at intervn want reconstructing, so that a certi sly number of men could not thus penal of the minority. In the Moa distrl od, where there is a large area, of the <•( ge ditions mentioned, a number or cr< L'k. roads need opening for traffic, and doubt will be a matter which the Inp , er wood Countv, when finally in full swi will have to face. The bringing i: -j- better production an area of close __ IHOO acres in one patch and almos( like area in another must benefit "? e whole district, and it is only bv- op ing the ronds mentioned that it on '. bo doneMODEL DAIRY FARMS. I haven't the slightest doubt that JD, St-iiford Model Dairy Farm will pr

E immense benefit to farmers in.that Lstrict, and the Government should see j it that other institutions of a like mr&cter are within easy reach ot each immunity. The Inglewood district has peeial claims for the establishment of n experimental farm, and the matter i one which dairy farmers should, inerest themselves in. It should be inisputable that difference in soil and n reather conditions are of great variety i Taranaki, and the results of experiipnts at Weraroa, Euakura, _ Moumaaki cannot be valued in their proper I ense as the same experiments would be E carried out on the Inglewood soil, t lie fanners of the district licue to Ik.u ia rt of the cost of these establishments • mt the value received is a negligible uantity. Hence the absolute need for State help with regard to providing the hildren of Inglewood farmers an area imilar to that at Stratford. J THE DAWN OF SCIENTIFIC) ' FEEDING- j Of imperative necessity to-day the yorld over is to increase production, rhis applies to all branches of mdusrv With increased production lies the inly solution to the payment of our war and the possible return to ire-war prices. The great primary miustries. by increasing the output of wheat, butter, cheese, meat, etc., will materially assist in reducing our liabilities. Science applied to agriculture will do more for New Zealand with more congenial conditions than other countries. Mr- Lloyd George said, artrtressing the Board of Agriculture, at Hall. Westminster, London, on October w—"l tell you now if Germany had pursued the same agricultural policy aa We had pursued, and neglected her agn-1 culture as we had neglected ours, she would have collapsed within a yeai. She , would have been unable to replenish her armies. She certainly would have been unable to feed her population; and it is because she did not do so that, m spite of the blockade, with a much poorer soil than our soil, she was able to hold out for over four years in a dire struggle. I will give you one or avo fibres showing wlmt the result lias been of the ureat effort made by Germany to increase the production of a comparatively poor soil. Do not forget that German soil will not bear eomimnson I for a moment in natural fertility wi ■ | that of this country. Take 100 acres of cultivated land in this country and 100 acres in Germany—arable and pastme. Britain feeds 45 to 50 per son* out of that 100 acres: Germany feeds 70 to >■■■■ Britain grows 15 tons of corn: German} 33 tons. Britain grows 11 trms ofpotatoes; Germany 55 tons. This s 100 acres. Now I know it is said that i vou co on cultivating potatoes anil grain and devoting the whole of your strength and vour soil to that purpose then meat and 'milk will suffer. Let megive you the next figure.v.-Britain produce* four tons of meat to Germany s four ) and aqvavter tons: Britain produces the eqni valent of 17J tons of milk to * Britain produces no sugar, ana Germany produces 2% tons Those are the figures of comparison of what t»ei monr with her soil makes out of I<JO acres, with the fibres, of what Britain with her richer land makes out of hei. "The storv of Denmark is even a more remarkable 'one. I gave you the' figure of 1871 for this country, showing how our agriculture bad gone down since 1871 in the number of people engaged on the soil. It has cone down very considerably in what the land produces. In Denmark, on the. other hand, since 1 . the corn and other crops have i»« eas ™ 2i times; the total head of cntt.lei in creased twice in number; the milch cow. It have only got 1888, I have not got 1871-but since ISBS there has been an increase of nearly 40 per cent, in tl« : milch cows; and in the pigs there is at - increase of 4i times. t ; "Every industry has got to mereas . its production, and as agriculture is thi ' most important of all industries, agri' i culture must have the greatest share l the increase. And if I might be allow • to say so, there is more room for in i crease."